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As part of the 2008 investment knowledge series I wanted to take a look at the top five portfolio building blocks for 2008. I believe that every investor should have some stocks that they have an extreme amount of confidence in, that can do well despite headwinds, and that have already proven themselves to the street. This type of stocks is perfect to build a portfolio around because the theory is even if the rest of the stocks in your portfolio are being trashed these stocks will likely do better than the market. This doesn't necessarily mean these stocks should be extremely defensive in nature, but they should certainly have a wide economic moat and a distinct advantage over their peers.

The Top 5 Building Blocks in 2008

• Johnson and Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) This is the ultimate company that you can count on. No matter the economic environment they will just keep turning their profits and growing moderately. The balance sheet at JNJ is absolutely pristine.
• CME Group (NYSE:CME) This is the old Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and this company is absolutely on fire. Trading volumes are surging, and growth is extremely strong at the company. Futures and options are likely to continue to grow in demand as speculation grows in the market over time. This company can profit from any environment.
• Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) Monsanto is at the forefront of the terrific boom in agriculture. The company has some amazing seed products that are growing terrificly (pun intended). I believe this company has done very well to get itself ahead of the curve and this boom is not even close to over.
• Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL) Apple is an extremely innovative company right now that is just gaining market share in everything. Steve Jobs has this company humming along, and I certainly don't want to bet against this continuing in 2008.
• The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) This one might be a little more disputed than the others on this list, but Boeing has a lot going for them. The company has a massive backlog of orders and the 787 Dreamliner will be something special. Even if there are some more delays on the dreamliner, this stock looks good for 2008.

I believe that investors would do well building their portfolio around one or more of these stocks. No matter how the overall stock market does, there will be some major winners and losers in 2008 and I believe these stocks are likely to end on the winners list. What do you think of this list? Which stocks would you include as 2008 portfolio building blocks?